GSI Commerce (acquired by Ebay Enterprise) is a leading provider of e-commerce solutions that enable retailers, branded manufacturers, entertainment companies, and professional sports organizations to operate e-commerce businesses. The company provides solutions for its partners through an integrated e-commerce platform, which is comprised of three components: technology, logistics, and customer care / marketing services. GSI Commerce has approximately 60 customers and partners in 11 retail categories.

The Challenge

With two fully redundant data centers collocated with a major Telco tier one provider, Wyman Lewis, Director of Information Security, manages security for a network involving hundreds of servers that provide the front-end Web presence for GSI’s partners. “These are mission critical e-commerce applications that fuel the business growth and success of our customers,” Lewis emphasized, “We required a security solution that would help us protect the network from hackers and other threats while maintaining 24x7 availability,” said Lewis.

A managed threat defense was a critical requirement for our network security, but we needed to find a way we could balance the need with available resources. Alert Logic offered both the technology and the certified and experienced staff to monitor and protect our network around the clock.

Wyman Lewis, Director of Information Security

Why Alert Logic?

GSI Commerce researched Alert Logic’s network protection solution and found the offering to complement the company’s in-house capabilities. “A managed threat defense was a critical requirement for our network security, but we needed to find a way we could balance the need with available resources. Alert Logic offered both the technology and the certified and experienced staff to monitor and protect our network around the clock,” said Lewis. Lewis pointed out that Alert Logic’s on-demand solution provides a critical component in demonstrating compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard. Supported by major credit card issuers, including VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover, the PCI Data Security Standard provides guidelines and requirements for safeguarding sensitive customer and transaction data.

The Results

“It’s an efficiency balancing act,” said Lewis. “And that’s why our relationship with Alert Logic is important. The Alert Logic people perform as if they are an extension of my internal staff, but I gain the efficiencies associated with outsourced services. Also, using Alert Logic’s managed threat defense solution in conjunction with our other security measures, helped us to demonstrate compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard and pass the audit.” The net result, according to Lewis, is that he has peace of mind. “I know GSI’s network is under constant protection surveillance. I also know that the system can stand up to a rigorous compliance audit.”